


Sore Spot

by thewiredgalaxy



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dalish Elves, Emerald Graves, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance, mention of slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-12 08:03:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5658799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewiredgalaxy/pseuds/thewiredgalaxy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While exploring a cave in the Emerald Graves, just after releasing some captives, Feras Lavellan finds a note on a nearby desk written by a Mother Costeau. She speaks of taking Dales and not much upsets Feras more than hearing about others wanting to enslave his people.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sore Spot

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this after reading the note from Mother Costeau and how my Inquisitor would've reacted to it. I wasn't happy about it myself.

"The Dales will be ours." read the note. Feras frowned deeply as he read that line over and over.

"What the fuck does it mean that they will have the Dales? I'm fucking Dalish!" he exclaimed, crumpling the note in a tight fist and shoving it in his pocket. "My people are not to be owned! We are not property!"

The Iron Bull and Cole stayed quiet as the small elf ranted. Cole's eyes rested on the back of Feras, his mind reading his pain that he was feeling within himself. The pain, the hurt, the sadness, the anger. The Iron Bull merely turned his gaze away, knowing he could not sympathize with the elf nor was he sure on how to calm him.

Their last explorer party member was the only one to do anything. 

"Amatus... Come, we should be going," Dorian spoke softly, coming up beside the other and tentatively putting his hand on his shoulder. "We must get going to find the Templars."

"Don't touch me..." Feras whispered bitterly as he shook off Dorian's hand, his hand shaking slightly. "Considering where you come from, I don't exactly want your sympathy..."

"Love, I've told you before I never had slaves," Dorian said softly as he put his hands at his sides, his lips pulling down in a frown.

"That doesn't mean other people in Tevinter didn't," Feras snapped as he turned his head to glare at Dorian. "I've heard that basically everyone has slaves and they are almost always elves. I heard you tell Sera that before you came here to the south that you never even met an elf before who wasn't a slave!"

"Maker... Feras, please understand. I've never cared to have slaves and I don't understand why people in Tevinter believe they need so many," Dorian told him, trying to relax him the best he could. "Honestly, I'd rather go around with you killing slavers and freeing slaves than seeing anymore slaves. Believe me."

Feras sighed, shrugging his shoulders and turning his back to Dorian to head further down the trail. "Let's just go..."

Dorian sighed, trailing by Cole's side behind the Iron Bull, as he ran his fingers through his raven locks. "Maker... I hate how stubborn he can be at times... I know he's upset, but still..." he muttered, more to himself rather than speaking to Cole.

His pale complexion friend glanced from under his largely brimmed hat to look at the moustached fellow, reading his inner feelings with a small, upset frown. "I can tell you do understand his pain, why he hates slavery after his people have known so much oppression, but I don't believe you can really get him to cheer up right now."

"What do you mean?" Dorian asked him, his eyebrows raised slightly.

"He's feeling a lot of hurt right now, especially with knowing where you come from, what its like there, and what slavery is like. I can sense he's thinking of friends he lost to slavers. How close he was to joining them," the spirit spoke softly as he looked around the Iron Bull at their leader's deflated stature.

Dorian was quiet for some time, rolling Cole's thoughts inside his head for a while. He understood what he was telling him but he still wanted to make things right between him and Feras again. "Do you believe that there is a way to cheer him up?"

"Um... Romance isn't exactly my thing.." Cole muttered softly as his gaze went back to Dorian, looking over his worried expression. "But perhaps once he has relaxed on his own, distract him. Give him happy feelings he will remember."

"Thank you, Cole. I appreciate it," the human smiled down at him kindly, his mind drifting off in thought.

~*^*~

"Feras...can I speak to you in private?" Dorian asked softly as he poked his head into his and Feras' shared tent, seeing his partner curled up in a ball on his bedroll.

"It's private enough here, isn't it...?" Feras muttered, glancing over his shoulder at the other as he tucked his auburn hair behind his ear. 

"I wanted to go just outside of camp. The stars are out and it looks lovely through the trees so I was wondering if you would like to go for a stroll?" Dorian murmured as he stepped into the tent, stopping halfway between the entrance and Feras, incase the elf wanted his space.

"Sure..." Feras sighed, slowly sitting up and rubbing his eyes before he stood, going to Dorian and taking his hand in his own. 

The human offered him a small smile and a gentle squeeze before he led him out of the tent, giving a small nod to Cole when he gave him an almost reassuring look. They walked in silence, hearing a few birds sing, a crow caw, and a wolf howl in the distance. Feras' head rested slightly on Dorian's shoulder as they went along the dirt path before they found a larger clearing within the trees.

Dorian sat beneath a smaller tree on a small hill, leaning back against it with his legs spread open. "Come, sit with me, Amatus," he said with a loving smile. 

Feras returned a small turning up of his lips and sat between his legs, his back against Dorian's chest and his head on his shoulder as he gazed up at the stars. "There's so many... I love seeing the sky like this, it reminds me of home..." he sighed softly. 

"Amatus, I want to show you something..." Dorian murmured in his ear as he brought his hands up in front of his beloved, a piece of paper in his one hand. "I've been working on this for a while for you and I think now is the best time to show you..."

The elf made a questioning noise as he watched Dorian's hands, sticking his lower lip out a bit in thought. He then watched as Dorian set the piece of paper ablaze. But it wasn't the warm hues of red and orange it normally was when he was attacking enemies, it was the colour of grass. Feras looked at it with confusion until Dorian released it into the air and it took shape of a pair of butterflies. One was a bit larger than the other and they glowed faintly white as their green, burning outline fluttered up towards the stars. Small yellow-green embers floated down from them as they left, Feras looking at them in awe as Dorian's arms wrapped around his waist. 

"Did you like that, amatus..?" he murmured in his ear, pressing a sweet kiss to his cheek. 

"That was amazing..." Feras whispered, a smile coming to his lips as his eyes never left the slowly disappearing butterflies. "Where did you learn that...?"

"Found it in a book in the library back at Skyhold," he told him as he smiled against his cheek, smirking a bit as his boyfriend squirmed when his moustache tickled his soft skin. "It's supposed to be used for bigger things and to be used in battle; but I felt this was better suited.."

The smaller one sighed contently and closed his eyes, one of his hands reaching back to comb through Dorian's hair gently. "It really was..." he said quietly before he turned his head to press their lips together sweetly in a chaste kiss. "This is really nice, Dorian...thank you..."

"The pleasure is mine, amatus," he replied, kissing him again and pulling him in closer. "We can stay out here as long as you like...just let me know when you're ready to go back.."

Feras nodded and turned his head to look back at the sky as he let out a soft breath, his body filling with content. "Alright..."

"Feras...?" Dorian whispered after quite some time of silence.

"Hmm...?" the elf hummed in response, raising an eyebrow.

"I love you..." he murmured sweetly in his ear. 

"I love you too..." he replied as he smiled softly and closed his eyes, leaning his head back onto Dorian's shoulder and closed his blue eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> Edit*** - I have come to realize that the "Dales" mentioned meant the land/area called the Dales, not the Dalish elves. But I'm not fixing my mistake so Feras is just still gonna take the note in the context that Mother Costeau was talking about his people and not land.


End file.
